Clovis Appliance: 70 Years of Customer Care

Clovis Appliance owner, Tammy Shultz and dog Jake. (Photo by Ron Sundquist)

For 70 years people throughout the community of Clovis have been relying on Clovis Appliances for all their household buying demands.

Since 1951, Clovis Appliance has been a family owned and operated business that has proven the great benefits of why you should buy local.

People throughout the community have been able to rely on Clovis Appliance when looking for any of their essential home buying needs due to the stores wide variety of GE appliances at an affordable price.

They also provide free and local delivery to the Fresno/Clovis area as well as offer installation and financing services to customers.

Owner Tammy Shultz recalls when her father, Glenn Skinner, and his business partner first purchased Clovis Appliances back in 1979.

Shultz said her father had always been interested in retail business ever since she was a baby and that she began working alongside him when she was 18 years-old, if not sooner.

With the current passing of both her father and mother just days apart from each other, Schultz’s role as the owner of Clovis Appliance means much more to her than simply just running a business.

“I want to make him proud,” Shultz said.

“It’s still very raw and I’ve worked with him for over 40 years and it’s different. It’s different not having him here to lean on…but he taught me well.”

Although COVID-19 has caused various challenges for small mom and pop businesses in the valley, Shultz said that Clovis Appliance is still as busy as ever.

She said that because people weren’t able to travel much this past year they’ve been resorting to remodeling their homes during the shutdown.

“They [her customers] were home more and things broke because they’re being used, so we just had the products they needed and it’s been very busy. We’ve been very blessed.”

Although Shultz’s business has been doing well, COVID-19 has brought along some challenges for the store.

Shultz said that there’s been a nationwide backorder of appliances for everyone throughout the nation meaning customer’s have had to wait longer to receive their products.

But people throughout the community have continued to show up and wait patiently for their orders from Clovis Appliance.

“Our customers have been really good about it, you know, patiently waiting,” she said.

“There’s been an incredible amount of buying going on in the country, something that the industry has never seen before. People are just buying like crazy, which is good.”

With the celebration of the business’ milestone anniversary, Shultz said that she can’t help but thank her father, her employees and her customers for their constant support throughout the past 70 years.

“I always want to thank my dad because if it wasn’t for him we wouldn’t be here…but our customers are what keeps us going, [and] my employees. If it wasn’t for them we wouldn’t be here either.”

Shultz also gives thanks to her dog Jake and to God for helping her continue on with the family business.

“If it wasn’t for him [God] I don’t know where I’d be. He’s got me through this last year so well. You’ve got to have faith that things will work out for the best and if you do, then things will.”

Halle Sembritzki was born in the small Swedish village of Kingsburg, California and graduated from Kingsburg High School in 2017. She now attends Fresno State and will graduate with her Bachelor’s in Multimedia Journalism in spring 2021. She aspires to use her voice as an outlet for those who can’t use their own and hopes to educate the public on important news topics happening within her community and the country.